Saturday, October 9, 2010

Drink Ye All Of It

As recommended for all 50 year olds, I had my first colonoscopy. I had heard from others, the stories about the distasteful mixture one must drink in order to prepare for the procedure. They did not exaggerate. Drinking the solution was necessary for the preparation. The instructions tell you that you must drink all of it. (It must have been a frequently asked question. I know it crossed my mind). It was unpleasant, but it did not kill me. In all honesty, I was in no danger.

In Mark 16:18, Jesus promised that if those baptized believers drank any deadly thing, it literally would not harm them. When the mother of James and John asked Jesus if her sons could each be Jesus's left-hand man and His right-hand man, Jesus asked the brothers if they were willing to drink from the same cup from which God purposed for Him to drink. They answered, "Yes." Jesus confirmed that indeed they would drink from it (Mark 10: 35 - 45).

In Matthew 26: 36 - 46, Jesus is served the cup containing His God-given purpose. He asked God's permission to let the cup pass without His having to drink its contents. Permission denied was His Father's response. I imagine expressions like, "Someone must drink it. If you pass it Jesus, to whom would you pass it? Do not pass it. Drink it. It may kill you, but it will not harm you." Hebrews 12: 2 says of Jesus, "who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross." He drank the contents of the cup.

So must each of us drink from the cup, the contents purposed for us. It may kill us, but our Savior has already promised and proven that it will not harm us. October 7, 2010 was Nattie's birthday (my stepmother). It was also the day Bruce told me that hours earlier, his doctor informed him that he had cancer. It goes without saying that we are petitioning and believing the Father for a miraculous recovery. Until then, His instructions to us are, "Drink ye all of it." Whatever happens, God must help Bruce and our family to drink from the cup set before us. I am asking Him to teach us to count this "Joy."

Preparing To Meet Jesus



If each of us were to live our lives according to the Creator's purpose, we would spend every day preparing to meet Jesus. When we firstly, discover the Creator's purpose for our lives and secondly, connect that purpose with the ultimate goal of meeting Jesus, we will understand that every experience in life that transpires between the two, is full of choices. We live our lives making choices that will prepare us to meet Jesus as Lord and Savior or to meet Jesus as Judge and Conqueror. God does not ask us to calculate the infinite number of choices we make between His purpose and meeting Jesus. He does, however, expect us to believe that those choices do count in the currency exchange of "The Abundant Life." Follow this simple equation. 1 (God's purpose for my existence) + 2 (The goal to meet Jesus) = 3 (Life more abundantly, including eternal life with God, the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost). I cannot specify a number for the choices I make, but I do believe that whatever that number is, it counts. In addition, I know that my Redeemer knows that number, not only for me, but He also knows it for everyone He has created. As I prepare to meet Jesus, I am 1) Learning to Love, 2) Learning to Forgive, 3) Learning to Use My Faith, and 4) Learning to Give the Same Hope to Others. They count. Joy!